Continuing development of electronic information systems coupled with the rapid growth of service-related industries has witnessed an increasing number of people employed in data entry or processing positions. The widespread full-time use of computers and related keyboard controls has spawned an alarming incidence of repetitive strain injuries (RSI's).
RSI's occur as a result of continual repetition of a particular motion over the course of a prolonged work period. Telephone directory operators, secretaries, airline reservation agents, and newspaper/publishing employees--generally anyone involved in full-time data entry or word processing--repeat certain physically-identical motions literally thousands of times per day.
Prominent among recognized RSI's is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). CTS is most closely-associated with keyboard use and invariably caused by use of the hands too often, too forcefully, or in the wrong position. Typically, improper chair or desk height and poor posture force individuals to type or otherwise use a keyboard in such a way as to require that their hands are bent back at the wrist. Constant repetition of motion in this position can and often does cause inflammation of the carpal ligaments at the base of the wrist. Subsequent compression and/or irritation of the median nerve and tendons can cause numbness, tingling or loss of sensation in the fingers, loss of muscle control or strength in the hands and fingers, as well as pain in the fingers, wrist, and into the shoulders. The symptoms and severity may vary from person to person.
Given the number of people employed in the service industries and the wide-spread occurrence of CTS, the health and economic impact is staggering. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has put the number of RSI's as approaching 100,000 reported cases per year, most of which are diagnosed as CTS. Conservative estimates place the average cost of treating a CTS patient as high as $15,000-$20,000, including the cost of medical treatment, ergonomic equipment, training, legal expenses and loss of productivity, as well as higher insurance premiums and higher costs for related employee benefits.
Because of the increasing costs associated with CTS, the search for an efficient, effective means by which to prevent such injuries has been ongoing concern in the art. Several approaches have been applied, each with certain limited success. One approach involves use of a wrist support systems positioned between the user and a keyboard. Such systems are available in a variety of configurations and with varying degrees of cushioned support. Another well-known approach incorporates the same support system in the context of an apparatus secured between the keyboard and the desk top on which it is placed. A recent, innovative approach is the development of an alternative keyboard apparatus which utilizes a pair of adjacent hand placement configurations which immobilize the user's hands and wrists, and involves activating key controls solely through finger movement.
However, the prior art has associated with it a number of significant problems and deficiencies. Most are related to the fact improper wrist angle is induced during keyboard use, and result from the designs and configurations of the apparatus currently used. (Improper wrist angle and that unequivocally associated with the incidence of CTS occurs when a keyboard user's hands are bent back at the wrist, toward the user when seated at a keyboard. Conversely, to avoid CTS, and for the purpose of this discussion, proper wrist angle may be defined as that shown when the user's wrists are either substantially unbent or where the hands of the user are bent forward and toward the keyboard as the user is seated before it.)
One major problem is that the free-standing support mechanisms are often costly, complex, and subject to mechanical or design failure. Position adjustment with respect to a particular keyboard may be achievable, but not without increased costs of manufacture and repair.
More affordable free-standing support apparatus are often characterized as being too soft or not providing the proper degree and angle of support. Furthermore, these systems are plagued by the fact that the supports move about when placed on a waxed or glass-covered desk top, such that readjustment of the support position is continually required during use.
The underlay-type apparatus addresses a number of the problems associated with free-standing support mechanisms, but creates others. Primary among these deficiencies is the fact that an apparatus of this sort is rarely compatible with a particular keyboard. Underlay systems which are adaptable to a particular keyboard are also prone to positioning problems. With others, while the weight of the keyboard and pressure thereon during use may hold the support mechanism in place, the angle and/or elevation provided is often ineffective by way of angle and support.
While some success has recently been claimed through use of the hand placement keyboard, any benefits derived therefrom are offset by the necessity of learning a new and entirely different typing/input methodology. Furthermore, the excessive cost and incompatibility of such devices with current word and date processing systems renders them impractical and unavailable for all but a very few of those seeking relief from CTS symptoms.
In summary, a considerable number of drawbacks and problems exist in the art relating to wrist support systems. There is a need for an improved apparatus, the use of which will prevent carpel tunnel syndrome and alleviate the costs associated therewith.